As the Rain Falls
by Eternal Nightingale
Summary: NaruSaku,one-shot,based somewhat on original plot by Kishimoto. She didn't care about anything else, she just needed to know that he was alive.


**For my second attempt at these fanfics I have to admit, this is pretty good. I even made my friend Tulip-chan cry when she proofread it with me. If she can cry over a one-shot about her SECOND fav Naruto pairing, then I must have done something right.**

**This is, most obviously, a NaruSaku one-shot. Why did I write this? Besides the fact that I can do whatever I want and that this thought wouldn't leave my head until I wrote it down, I just LOVE this pairing. **

**Like Tulip-chan says: "Your intense love for narusaku is like my obsession for sasuhina."**

**Yea, well please I'd like to hear what you think of this narusaku story I made. And expect more soon, cause I'm chalk full of them. **

**Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine? Though you'd think people would know that ;)**

_"A guy and a girl can be just friends, but at one point or another one of them will fall for the other, maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late or maybe, just maybe...forever..." -Unknown._

* * *

She didn't care that it was three in the morning.

She didn't care that there was an immense thunderstorm occurring over her head.

She didn't care of getting wet.

She didn't care if she got sick from running around in the streets of konoha, in the middle of a storm, with just a shirt and shorts on.

No, none of that mattered to her. Any consequences would be dealt with when they came.

Something far more important was on her mind. That something was precisely why she was running.

It was that dream. That horrible grotesque dream, that haunted her, tortured her, and made her literally cover her bed sheets with her cold sweat.

She had to make sure he was still there, still safe in Konoha. That he was still in his apartment, dreaming away, eating ramen, anything. As long as he was THERE.

She ran into a large mud puddle as she turned a corner, and covered half her right leg with the dark wet substance.

And still she ran. Nothing mattered except getting to him as soon as possible.

Pink hair flopped back and forth, clinging to her wet shirt and bouncing again with her movements. Her light green eyes held a straight-forward gaze.

Another turn and another street, and she would get to his apartment. She had to run faster. Another lightning bolt streaks across the sky, soon followed by the booming sound of thunder as it echoes across the village.

Puffs of heavy air escapes the pink-haired young woman's lips as she keeps running.

Her eyes narrow in horrible remembrance. That dream seemed to continue to mock her with its constant presence in her thoughts.

The blood, the loud incoherent screams and yells, the pleas and cries, and those eyes. Deep intense blue eyes, staring at her for a split second, before losing all life and fading away to a dull listless blue. A bruised and battered hand reaching for her, and then slowly collapsing back down to the ground.

Water droplets splash everywhere as pink hair shakes back and forth. The young woman trying desperately to erase those horrible images from her mind.

Her feet suddenly stop. Her breathing coming in and out in a rapid pace. The rain falling on her face and gliding down towards her chin. Her green eyes staring at the lone window at the top of an old looking apartment.

She had to prove herself wrong now. She had to make this paranoid feeling in her mind disappear. She had to make this painful ache in her heart to stop. By seeing for herself he was still alive. His eyes still glistened with kindness and immature mischievousness. His stupid yet cute grin was still present on his face. That he was still alive. That was all.

Taking one last look at the window, the young pink haired woman jogs her way towards the apartments. Her feet now reacting to the intense beating it was given for having to run nearly four blocks.

Even if her feet felt like two ton bars of lead, she had to keep going. Nothing would stop her from seeing him. Not even herself.

The steps leading to the apartment room seemed eternal to the young woman as her light green eyes focused solely on the rusty old door.

Wet and cold, she finally reached the apartment. She tried to relax for a moment. She didn't want to scare him by appearing frightened and tired.

Still, her heart pounded so loudly she could hear it in her own head. Her breathing was still shallow and quick.

She clutched her wet shirt and closed her eyes to let in one more deep breathe. This was it. This is what she ran for over fifteen minutes for. To see him open that door, and make her believe he is truly okay.

A shaky pale hand reaches out to knock twice on the door.

A moment passes. Nothing.

She begins to get nervous, wondering if her dream was actually coming true.

Then, she hears a loud grunt, a loud bang of something plastic falling to the floor, and loud curses through the other side.

A smile appears on the drenched girl. He was there. A second later the door is heard being unlocked and the first wonderful thing she spots, is a mess of blonde hair.

"What do you want?! Can't ya see it's in the middle of the fuck...Sakura-chan?" Her eyes study him with immense relief as he opens his tired eyes to look at her.

"Ne...You're all wet Sakura-chan! What the hell were you thinking coming all the way over here when it's raining!" Naruto grabs a towel that was conveniently hanging from a coat hanger and places it around the shivering Sakura as he speaks.

She doesn't say a word to him. She merely stares with her green eyes. The smile from earlier refusing to leave. She was so happy. He was still alive. After a moment more, she speaks.

"Gomen...Naruto."

Surprised blue eyes turn into a sympathetic stare as he looks at her and grins. "It's all right Sakura-chan, no need to say sorry now! Not like you did this for no reason at all ne?"

Sakura numbly nods as she wraps the towel around herself. Now that she was here, what was she supposed to say to him? How was she supposed to react?

The blonde looks at his pink haired friend with curious concern. She was acting the complete opposite of her usual self. It was finally starting to worry him.

Naruto scratches the back of his head and laughs nervously. "So, umm...if it's not too much to ask Sakura-chan...why are you here at three in the morning? I was you know...kinda asleep."

His eyes, they weren't lifeless. His chest was raising up and down. Everything was ok. He was ok.

The young woman walks forward and stands mere inches from him. She smiles again.

A blonde eyebrow raises in confusion as Naruto wonders if perhaps Sakura was having a case of sleepwalking syndrome. His confusion only grows as his teammate walks up to stand right in front of him, without saying a word.

'No yelling, no reason for coming, not even an insult. It's not a mission or she would have already said something.'

"...Sakura-chan?"

The blonde nearly gets the air knocked out of him as two small, but powerful arms encircle him in a tight hug.

Naruto blinks in momentary shock of the unexpected move Sakura made, and then his emotions begin to kick in.

A profound blush covers the blonde's whiskered face as he stares down at the wet pink hair of his friend. He gulps before, with a nervous shake, asks.

"W-What's wrong Sakura-chan?"

The young woman clutches the blonde's black shirt tightly. She closes her eyes in an unexpected satisfaction. She could hear his heartbeat. It was rapid and slow all at once.

She was surprising herself really. Such a petty thing, and yet his heartbeat was bringing so much relief, she could barely contain it.

"You...You're alive Naruto..." her pale and trembling lips respond to his question after a minute of silence.

His body stiffens for a moment. She could feel his head lower to stare at the top of her head. His slow breathing moving strands of her pink hair.

His arms which were hanging limply to his sides, reach out to pull her gently away from him. Blue eyes stare at green.

"What do you mean Sakura-chan? Why wouldn't I be alive?" his voice asked her with a tinge of concern and seriousness in his tone.

She just stares. Fighting an inner battle to tell him her horrible dream or not.

A part of her doesn't want to. She had worked so hard to be strong and confident. And yet that dream about his death shook her down to her core, she had returned to her old self, if for only a moment.

Her head subconsciously raised itself to look up at the young man who she was embracing seconds ago, and her heart skips a beat.

His blue eyes looked pained, as if her own turmoil was affecting him as well. Then again, it was Naruto, he always hated to see his precious people in pain, and he unable to do a thing.

She couldn't lie to him, not when he was staring at her that way.

A shaky sigh, and Sakura smiles at him.

"I just...wanted to make sure you were okay. I...I had a dream. You were in it, and...you...you had...died and...I..I couldn't do anything to...to protect you..."

Sakura bent her head down. She covered her mouth with her shaky hand, trying to stop the sob from leaving her lips.

It was hard enough having to deal with those horrible images on her own, but telling him was even worse.

A gasp. Her green eyes widened in surprise. Two tanned arms hold her in a gentle hug. She can hear his breathing, normal and soft.

She's now the one who blushes in his arms. She slowly moves her head up to stare at him. She meets his fox-like grin. Then he opens his eyes and his expression becomes serious.

"It's ok...I'm right here Sakura-chan. You're kinda stuck with me for the rest of your life." He laughs as he loosens his hold on her. "I won't die, I promise."

She smiles and nods. "Arigato."

"Hey, don't mention it. And..." She slightly jumps when he feels his rough hand gently wipe away a stray tear from her face. "Don't cry anymore. Especially over me. I don't like it, you're far more beautiful when you're smiling." He grins widely at her blushing face.

This wasn't the same idiotic, overly confident, loudmouth Naruto she knew. Right?

She shakes her head. It doesn't matter. Naruto was Naruto and that's the only way she could ever love him as.

"I was gonna go grab my kunai to go kick-ass to whoever woke me up this late, but then I tripped over the collection of ramen cups I had. I worked on that all day too. Oh, well I'll do it again another day. Now that I know it's you though, you can come stay for the night here Sakura-chan! If you want I mean, cause you know I don't wanna sound like some perv like Kakashi-sensei or that bastard Sai."

She smiled even more. There he goes, rambling on like some broken record. Still spending the night with him would be nice.

Just to make sure he was still by her side in the morning.

The pink haired young woman walks inside the apartment and grabs his hand. He stops his constant gibberish and looks down at her with a somewhat worried look.

"Ne Ne...you okay Sakura-chan? Are you remembering the dream again?! You can feel my heart if ya want! See? I'm still alive Sa..."He stopped speaking, feeling two small cool fingers cover his lips.

"You're talking too much again Naruto..."

Naruto winced knowing that the sentence was usually followed by a blow to the head. Yet the blonde felt nothing. Instead he was met with the happiest smile he had ever seen Sakura have since their genin days.

"Let's go to sleep...Naruto."

Naruto's blue eyes widen for a moment, before a content smile covers his face. He closes the door and turns to face her.

"Hai..."

She didn't care if Naruto bragged to the rookie nine guys that she had slept over at his apartment that night.

She didn't care if she ended up regretting it, which she doubted anyways.

She didn't care if she ended up waking up in the middle of the night many more times, just to go see if he was all right. Only to end up sleeping over again.

She didn't care if everyone in the village started gossiping about her and Naruto being a couple.

She didn't care if Naruto started believing that because of her numerous nightly visits.

She didn't care if she ended up accepting that as the truth.

She didn't care if her love for an Uchiha died. And her love for an Uzumaki took its place.

No, all she cared about, was waking up and seeing him alive. Still smiling and laughing with her. Standing by her side.

And that alone would be enough.

* * *

**Night: -stares- What are you doing here Tulip?**

**Tulip: I came to see how the readers liked your story Night-chan!**

**Night: But I just posted it...**

**Tulip: -blinks- Oh...yea...I suppose you're right.**

**Night: -sighs- Just go back to your sasuhina story Tulip-chan**

**Tulip: -gasps- You're right! I must finish ch. 11 part two -runs off to type her fingers to death-**

**Night: Well, hope you enjoyed my narusaku, please be kind and courteous enough to review. your opinion matters! **

**End.**


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